As Gary said his letter was to be treated as open source, and I’m currently unable to post on Pagan Network (grumble grumble), I decided to post about it in my blog.

I attended my very first pagan gathering at New Aeon Books, a pagan book shop in Manchester in case you didn’t know

It was a long journey from my home, I stayed in a travel lodge that night, thanks again to the gentleman who walked me back there after the main group went another way I still remember the talk which was held in the back room of the store. It was about King Arthur and Camelot, how the stories were probably based around the current border of Wales … it impressed me so much I bought his book for my husband with the intention that the next summer we’d holiday in the area and find some of the places he described. That never happened though.

Anyway Gary and his wife are moving to Canada, having sold the shop to another member of staff so that it will continue to provide quality services to pagans. If you’re in need of a pagan type book check out the website or give them a ring, I’ve always found them very helpful … even when I turned up at the bookshop about two (or three) hours before the talk lol

From Rowan, at White Dragon magazine, posted on another list…

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The letter below is Gary’s farewell to UK paganism and was originally written to be published in a handful of magazines but he has since said to treat it as open source, so please feel free to forward this to anywhere it might put creases into crushed velvet

And before anyone moans about being accused of wearing crushed velvet, I’m posting it here ‘cos I think it’s worth reading. Gary was a member of these forums and a supporter of PN for a good few years.

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The magazine this letter is appearing in may not have the largest circulation of the Pagan magazines or have a glossy cover, but along with The Cauldron and The Oracle (an Occult magazine rather than just Pagan) it is one we have the most respect for. This is not meant to sound harsh, it is meant to reflect the way in which White Dragon publishes articles of an informative and academic nature rather than going down the road of “what the average Neo-Pagan wants to read today”. In other words – quality rather than commercial interest.

My wife and I have owned New Aeon Books in Manchester for just over four years of its fourteen year history. Other shops have opened and closed in Manchester during those fourteen years but New Aeon has continued to survive. I say survive rather than flourish because in today’s market, being a serious occult shop and focusing on learning rather than looking the part is difficult. Books hold one of the lowest margins in retail and unfortunately, for many of today’s pagans, saving a couple of pounds is more important than keeping a resource where “newbies” can find sound advice and where people can network and find details of moots, conferences, camps and other events. Of course, if we “sold out” and stocked high profit margin rubbish that makes you look like a witch rather than be one (like many of today’s “pagan” shops), I would now be retiring and probably driving a Ferrari!

I have observed over the past four years the extreme deterioration of the community and the information available to people who have just found their path. It seems more important to bitch about others and to look the part than to focus on learning. Apparently, it is easier to read rubbish on the internet written by people who hide behind personas that are difficult to identify or check than to work through source material. Before we owned the shop, we had a large but closed group of pagan friends, all of whom were either from our tradition or covens held in mutual respect. We were rarely to be seen at moots and conferences as we did not “play” with the mainstream community. During these four years we have become a part of the wider community for better and for worse.
Based on what we have seen and the rapid deterioration of this, we are now going to crawl back under our stone as we start a new life in Canada.

I write this letter the day that we have sold New Aeon Books. Our dear friend Jonathon Cole is now the Manager of New Aeon, we wish him all the best and are confident the ethos behind the shop will continue.
We would like to thank all those people who have supported us, New Aeon Books and The Awakening Conference over the past four years. As well as our customers, we would like to thank in particular our staff, friends and speakers for their time, effort and support. In no particular order – Jonathon Cole, Kathryn Glover, Gareth Hayes, David Rietti (and family), Marian Green, Runic John and his wife Ruth, Suzanne Ruthven and Ignotus Press, John and Sandra at Shared Earth (PaganCon), Linda Sever, Jenny Blain, Allan Jason, Robert Lomas, Frater U:.D:., John-Paul Patton, Davy and Kathy O?Neil, Lora O’Brien, Jay Judge, Nathaniel Harris, Jaq Hawkins, Mick Frankel, Julian Vayne, Lady Passion & *Diuvei, Lon Milo Duquette, Fiona Walker-Craven, Philip Heselton, Tim Ward, Leah Whitehorse, Adrian Bott, The Pagan Association, Ken & Sandra Brock (formerly of the Pagan Federation), Pendle Witch Camp, everyone at Oracle Magazine and White Dragon, and all those I have missed out (apologies if I have but the list would be endless if we included everyone!)

Before we leave for pastures new I would also like to thank all the people in this country who have influenced my own personal path(s) and learning, both directly and indirectly, in particular David Rietti, Allan Jason, Kim Morgan, Runic John and my dear departed friend, mentor and confidante who I will always miss and never forget – Ioan Einion.

My final note before signing off is this, and I can now say this without accusations of being biased:
Please support the serious businesses in the community, those who are a learning resource and a place to network: shops such as New Aeon Books, Atlantis Books, Treadwells and Watkins. At the end of the day, even if you are highly experienced in your field, if you wish the future of paganism in this country to consist of more than velvet clad unemployed people with pentagram pendants large enough to receive Sky Sports, support the resources where people can find help and guidance from people who are not just selling crap to make money.

Gary Oke
Formerly of New Aeon Books